Paper short abstract:

This presentation focuses on the internationalisation of higher education in post-Soviet Uzbekistan based on two main areas: international student mobility and international research cooperation. The data extracted from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), Web of Science (WoS) and Scimago.

Paper long abstract:

Central Asian outward student mobility and international research cooperation are debated in several theoretical environments. For example, Chankseliani (2015) provided world system theory to explain outward student mobility after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Syed Zwick (2019) applies the motivation-opportunity-capacity model to explain student mobility in Central Asia. Kuzhabekova (2020) writes about the limits of North South categorization in explaining international research cooperation.

This research is on secondary data. The main resources are the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Scimago, the Web of Science (WoS). The data obtained through WoS is interpreted by using the Netscity application.

Student mobility indicators show that internationalization has caused more inequality: between 1998 and 2017, the enrolment rate of Uzbek students among all international students in Western European and North American universities fell from 9.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent (UNESCO), despite 50 per cent of outward mobility (from 1329 to 1998). Central and Eastern Europe region hosted most of the students from Uzbekistan (from 3,315 in 1998 to 25,244 in 2017), an increase of nearly 800 per cent. From the other hand, the proportion of Uzbekistan's research output in the world's research output has fallen, while the international cooperation rate of research results has risen from 18.02% in 1996 to 57.26% in 2017. Research output has grown from 489 in 1991 to 776 items in 2019 (all categories referenced in WoS), while the ratio of participating countries in Uzbekistan's research output has more than doubled from 1995 to 2019. Based on Netscity application, Uzbekistan's research cooperation shows more international cooperation; China's role is increasing and may have a greater role in the 2020s. However, regional research cooperation is weak.

The study indicates that, in both areas of internationalisation immediate opportunities may have a great impact. The new vectors and opportunities of research cooperation develop, and regional cooperation may emerge in Central Asia, where Uzbekistan may have a central role.